NutritionFacts.org
Browsing: Home / Videos / Some Ayurvedic Medicine Worse Than Lead Paint Exposure

Health Topics

Browse through 1,577 different health topics
from A-Z!
  1. #
  2. A
  3. B
  4. C
  5. D
  6. E
  7. F
  8. G
  9. H
  10. I
  11. J
  12. K
  13. L
  14. M
  15. N
  16. O
  17. P
  18. Q
  19. R
  20. S
  21. T
  22. U
  23. V
  24. W
  25. X
  26. Y
  27. Z
Browse All Topics

Some Ayurvedic Medicine Worse Than Lead Paint Exposure

Triphala, a combination of three fruits–amla, bibhitaki, and haritaki fruits—is the most commonly used herbal formulation in Ayurvedic medicine and may have powerful anti-cancer properties. Unfortunately, one in five Ayurvedic herbal dietary supplements were found contaminated with lead, mercury, and/or arsenic.

January 20, 2012 |
GD Star Rating
loading...
FavoriteLoadingAdd to My Playlist

Topics

Supplementary Info

Some Ayurvedic Medicine Worse Than Lead Paint Exposure, 4.0 out of 5 based on 1 rating

Sources Cited

Carlsen MH, Halvorsen BL, Holte K, Bøhn SK, Dragland S, Sampson L, Willey C, Senoo H, Umezono Y, Sanada C, Barikmo I, Berhe N, Willett WC, Phillips KM, Jacobs DR Jr, Blomhoff R. The total antioxidant content of more than 3100 foods, beverages, spices, herbs and supplements used worldwide. Nutr J. 2010 Jan 22; 9:3.

Sandhya T, Mishra KP. Cytotoxic response of breast cancer cell lines, MCF 7 and T 47 D to triphala and its modification by antioxidants. Cancer Lett. 2006 Jul 18;238(2):304-13. Epub 2005 Aug 30.

Shi Y, Sahu RP, Srivastava SK. Triphala inhibits both in vitro and in vivo xenograft growth of pancreatic tumor cells by inducing apoptosis. BMC Cancer. 2008 Oct 10;8:294.

Sandhya T, Lathika KM, Pandey BN, Mishra KP. Potential of traditional ayurvedic formulation, Triphala, as a novel anticancer drug. Cancer Lett. 2006 Jan 18;231(2):206-14.

Baliga MS. Triphala, Ayurvedic formulation for treating and preventing cancer: a review. J Altern Complement Med. 2010 Dec;16(12):1301-8.

Rao MM, Kumarmeena A, Galib. Detection of toxic heavy metals and pesticide residue in herbal plants which are commonly used in the herbal formulations. Environ Monit Assess. 2011 Oct;181(1-4):267-71. Epub 2011 Jan 6.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Lead poisoning associated with ayurvedic medications--five states, 2000-2003. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2004 Jul 9;53(26):582-4.

Saper RB, Kales SN, Paquin J, Burns MJ, Eisenberg DM, Davis RB, Phillips RS. Heavy metal content of ayurvedic herbal medicine products. JAMA. 2004 Dec 15;292(23):2868-73.

Buettner C, Mukamal KJ, Gardiner P, Davis RB, Phillips RS, Mittleman MA. Herbal supplement use and blood lead levels of United States adults. J Gen Intern Med. 2009 Nov;24(11):1175-82. Epub 2009 Jul 3.

Kales SN, Saper RB. Ayurvedic lead poisoning: an under-recognized, international problem. Indian J Med Sci. 2009 Sep;63(9):379-81.

Acknowledgements

Image thanks to Daniel R. Blume

Transcript

In terms of antioxidant power, I couldn't imagine anything ever beating out cloves, but then, silly as a gooseberry comes along. But then in a whole 'nother league, triphala. Triphala is the most commonly used herbal formulation in all of Ayurvedic medicine. "Tri" means "three"; "phala" (in Sanskrit) means "fruits". It's just a combination of three fruits: Indian gooseberries, amla, bibhitaki fruit, and  haritake fruit. It's not some drug, some extract, but just three types of fruits, dried and crushed into powder. What can it do? Well, antioxidant-wise, one little pinch between your fingertips, which would cost a fraction of a penny, has as much antioxidant power as about a cup of blueberries. We're in the big leagues, here!

It seems to be able to do all the same amla tricks: preferentially wiping out breast cancer cells in vitro, but leaving normal breast cells relatively alone. Pancreatic cancer, too. By the time this concentration of triphala was reached, 95% of the pancreatic cancer cells were dead. As you can see, only 10% of the cancer cells survived. If triphala were less toxic to normal pancreas cells, we'd expect to see something like this. And if it were completely nontoxic to normal cells, we'd expect maybe this. But what they actually found was this. It actually kind of went out of its way to protect the good cells while killing off the bad.

Quoting from a review, recently "All these reports suggest the effectiveness of triphala as a nontoxic selective antineoplastic [anticancer] agent." Meaning, nontoxic to normal cells at doses toxic to tumor cells. That's what we want.

So what's not to like? 2011 analysis, "Detection of toxic heavy metals and pesticide residue in herbal plants which are commonly used in the herbal formulations". Uh oh. We started recognizing it as a problem about a decade ago, when the CDC started noticing cases of "Lead Poisoning Associated with Ayurvedic Medications". Fatal infant brain disease, paralysis, deafness...

So, researchers in Boston went to every Indian market within 20 miles and picked up every ayurvedic herbal medicine product they could find. One in five contained lead, mercury, and/or arsenic. And that's just a little bit. They found out that those suffering ayurvedic lead poisoning had higher lead levels than those suffering lead paint removal poisoning!

And it's not just Boston. A national survey a few years ago found that women using ayurvedic herbs had lead levels 24% higher than non-users.

As spelled out in an editorial in the "Indian Journal of Medical Sciences", "Ayurvedic lead poisoning [is] an under-recognized, international problem".

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is transcript contributed by Bruce A. Hamilton.

To help out on the site please email volunteer@nutritionfacts.org

Dr. Michael Greger

Doctor's Note

Please feel free to post any ask-the-doctor type questions here in the comments section and I’d be happy to try to answer them. Be sure to check back for the other videos on Ayurvedic medicine and don't miss all the videos on mercury. And there are 1,449 subjects covered in the rest of my videos–please feel free to explore them!

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

    Please feel free to post any ask-the-doctor type questions here in the comments section and I’d be happy to try to answer them. Be sure to check back for the other videos on Ayurvedic medicine and don’t miss all the videos on mercury. And there are 1,449 subjects covered in the rest of my videos–please feel free to explore them!

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/capebreton/ CapeBreton

    Hi There,

    Your videos on Amla have been fascinating and I’d like to give some a try. However, I’ve long been aware that food and natural medicine products from China and India are generally not to be trusted due to contamination from heavy metals and who knows what else.

    How confident can you be to go to an Indian food store and purchase Amla powder? Would it not be just as potentially contaminated with heavy metals as the Ayurvedic medicines were in the study featured in this video?

    Also, what would be a safe dosage and at the same time useful dosage of Amla powder?

    Thanks

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/paul3917/ paul3917

    Does anyone have any information on contamination in ashwagandha root powder? I read an article that it increases glutathione, SOD, and catalase levels as well as being excellent for anxiety and is taken in India as a general tonic. But if it has lead, mercury or arsenic, it might be doing me more harm than good.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/alancproctor/ alancproctor

    Dr. Greger,

    Per the previous comment, how can we be assured that Amla purchased here in the U.S. is heavy metal free?

    Please advise…

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/louisef/ LouiseF

    this video is confusing. So do we use it or not?

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/jkearns97062/ jkearns97062

      This is not an endorsement, but one source, Banyan Botanicals, says that their products are USDA Organic and says they test for Microbiologicals, Heavy Metals, Pesticides, and Identification. They say they are “fully compliant with the USDA’s National Organic Program, ANSI Standard 173, AHPA standards and the new cGMP for Dietary Supplements.” They list their Quality Control info here: http://www.banyanbotanicals.com/quality-control.html

      What do you think, Dr. Gregor? Thanks!

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/bettinac/ BettinaC

    For those worried about contamination issues with these herbs, I highly recommend purchasing organic versions of them online from Mountain Rose Herbs (http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/index2.html), a bulk herb and spice supplier with a long history and good reputation for quality. (No, I don’t have any affiliation with them other than to be a happy customer :-) They sell organic amla and triphala powder as well for those who, like me, have been excitedly following Dr. Greger’s videos and want to rush out and buy some.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/veguyan/ Veguyan

    At Mountain Rose Herbs they still tout Amla as having tons of Vitamin C. I thought I saw on this site Dr. Greger dispelling the belief that Amla has Vit. C.

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

      Nope–packed with C!

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/galactus617/ galactus617

    Wow. I was so excited, I went out to buy amla last night. Now I am concerned regarding the safety of the product.

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

      Stay tuned–we’re not at the end of the story yet (and it has a happy ending! :)

      • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/galactus617/ galactus617

        Thanks Doctor.

        I would like to use a safe form if amla. I bought a few different versions of it. Frozen. Sweet/dried. I also tried. Chyawanprash. Is that also good for you. It says it is mostly amla. Just wondering if you had a point of view on this. I am looking forward to your next post.

  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/lazarito/ lazarito
  • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/anniekcr/ anniekcr

    Dr. Greger, where do you obtain the amla you use in your smoothies?

    • http://nutritionfacts.org/members/mgreger/ Michael Greger M.D.

      I have an Indian spice store in my neighborhood I go to, but I’ve found it in a few other such stores around town (near DC where I live).

      • Katybcmt

        How do you know from which store you can buy Amla? Do you have any guidelines? Can we trust the online stores that say it is organic?

        • Toxins

           Typically, if you visit a local Indian store, they will sell various forms of Amla. From powdered, frozen and dried. I personally prefer powdered.

      • Lucia13

        I get all my Ayurvedic products from http://www.banyanbotanicals.com/ do you have any idea if their products are safe?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=640861216 Gary Yuen

    Amla is a fruit grouped together with other foods, herbs and spices. “The agents which cure body and mental diseases, delay old age, increase mental power, generating power, vital energy, eyesight, impart intelligence, memory, aid proper digestion and clear complexion are Rasayana.”

    Chyawanprash is a tonic that’s made from dozens of substances. I think the story goes one elderly fellow married a young woman and so asked for an elixor to restore his vitality. It’s commonly used in India by the general popuation during winter to maintain immunity — perhaps only a side effect of marketing. But it’s main purpose is immunity.

    There are several main Indian ayurvedic companies you can find here such as Dabur, Himalaya, and Sandhu. I tend to use those companies (since I can find them). I’m not sure if the studies of metal findings list which formulations in which they were found. If mercury was in something particular, it should be because the formula asks for it. I have heard of it’s use but don’t know much about it since I don’t “practice” ayurveda and none of the books in English (I’ve found) talk much about it. If metals were found in pure herbs or triphala, perhaps it is because of like what you see with soy warnings (this product made in a facility that …). Not sure if this is really common.

    I also use Banyan Botanicals (like for triphala) for the herbs I use more regularly (and that they offer). They say organic so I’d guess it probably is. There isn’t much else out there (from US companies) anyway. As far as safety of Indian companies, I have talked (only a bit but not in detail) to doctors that say bigger companies should be safe since they’re tested. But who knows. For Chyawanprash, I have heard of one tests of different brands in an Indian magazine. Am trying to ask someone for a copy of that. And will try to find out more.

  • liz LaRue

    Wow. Thank you. Unfortunately, I just ordered some amla online (organic- but who knows?)
    Do you have a brand or source to recommend for these herbs. Amla and triphala in particular? I have a friend just diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and want to suggest the triphala. Thank you, Liz.

  • mapiceo

    Any products coming from the 3rd world should be tested. We test all our products twice for heavy metals and live organisms. We are completely transparent with all test results and meet all APHA standards. http://www.mapi.com Alan Marks, CEO, Maharishi Ayurveda Products Int.

  • http://www.facebook.com/tom.buhman Tom Bohman

    I wasn’t aware of ayurveda as a brand of medicinal foodstuff, but as ‘life science’, an analytical device to bring health and balance not only to people but to the environment. Seems to me the use of the term “Ayurveda” has been misused in this video. Don’t you think?

©2012 NutritionFacts.org - All Rights Reserved | In partnership with the Jesse & Julie Rasch Foundation
Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Contact Us